Police chief annoyed by sergeant’s air-con complaint

BANGKOK: National police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda is apparently unhappy with a sergeant’s move to file a complaint with an anti-corruption body after his money was used to buy a new air-conditioner at his police station.

Sgt Maj Lersak Nonkhunthot, an officer in charge of interrogation at Phahon Yothin Police Station, made headlines on Tuesday (Mar 27) when he filed the complaint with the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission.

He claimed his allowances and those of 10 other colleagues had been deducted by two superiors to buy an air-conditioner for the interrogation room.

He submitted as evidence to the PACC photos of the air-conditioner and the order by two police inspectors sent through the Line chat application to 11 junior officers. Their bosses, Maj Chalakon Pandaeng and Maj Ekkarat Omak, were allegedly named in the petition.

Reacting for the first time, Gen Chakthip said the problem should be an internal affair to be sorted out among themselves, instead of informing “outsiders”.

“Urgent problems like broken air-conditioners or lack of water supply should be discussed inside police stations,” he said.

“The interrogation unit has a few officers. They should talk it over rather than sending the case to other agencies,” he added.

Gen Chakthip said the police force has a clear line of command to tackle internal problems – from police station chiefs to more senior levels.

Lodging complaints with outside agencies could violate the regulations of the Royal Thai Police Office, he said, adding Sgt Maj Lersak’s case would be considered by Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) chief Lt Gen Chanthep Sesavej.

The MPB oversees all police stations in Bangkok, including Phahon Yothin.

Asked whether it is normal for a police station to raise money to solve its own problems, the police chief said there is nothing unusual about it. “Several hundred police stations use money from officers to fix things as they could not wait for a budget to be approved.”

Gen Chakthip dismissed claims officers were forced to sacrifice to improve police stations and called the practice a “fund-raising” activity.